MotorCity is a stunningly-illustrated roll-and-write game about running an auto plant in the heyday of Detroit for 1 to 4 players that play in about 45 minutes.
Motor City is named after Detroit, MI, the historic heart of the American automotive industry. Credited with providing the model for mass production that other industries later adopted and still use today,  Motown is still one of the industrial capitals of the world.
In Motor City, you’re the supervisor at a plant during the heyday of Detroit’s automotive industry, when big engines and horsepower ruled the day. You’ve just been put in charge of day-to-day operations across the entire facility. You’ll need a clipboard, steel-toed boots, and an even steelier eye for efficiency.
You’ll be faced with tough decisions about which departments get more of your attention and the company’s resources: Will you throw all your weight into production? Test your prototypes extensively to ensure that customers are satisfied with your cars? Or perhaps give engineering the green light to push innovation even further?
At the same time, you’ll have to think fast and react to temporary shutdowns caused by a meddling auditor sent from corporate. But your operation isn’t the only one in town, so the race is on to build the biggest muscle-car empire!
Each department is represented by tracks that you will mark off as you make progress. Many of the tracks are interconnected with other elements in the game, giving you bonuses along the way and opportunities to unlock more points. Advancing on all of these tracks offers various amounts of points, advancements, combos, and bonuses.
Motor City is the brand new loaded roll-and-write game from the designers of Fleet: The Dice Game, Three Sisters, Godspeed, Wasteland Express Delivery Service, Piepmatz, Stellar, and more. Motor City packs all the decisions and fun of a full gaming experience into an efficient and innovative package.
Motor City is game #3 of the Motor City Gameworks Loaded Roll and Write series.
- Game #1: Fleet: The Dice Game
- Game #2: Three Sisters
- Game #3: Motor City
In Motor City, you have two player sheets, each with multiple areas.
These areas are represented by tracks that you will mark off as you make progress. Many of the tracks are interconnected with other elements in the game, giving you bonuses along the way and opportunities to unlock more points. Advancing on all of these tracks offers various amounts of points, advancements, and bonuses.
The game lasts eight rounds. Each round, roll colored dice based on the number of players, then place them on spaces on the action chart based on value and color. Each player drafts one die and uses it. Once everyone has drafted a die twice, all players get to use the remaining die on the action chart.
Each die you draft lets you do three things, which you do in this order:
1. Collect the bonus of the space from which you removed the die.
2. Take the action associated with the space from which you removed the die (or, alternatively, UPGRADE, or RESEARCH).
3. Take the action of the space on your sheet where you placed the die, unless it’s blocked off by the rolled Auditor die.
Then all players receive the action associated with the space of the remaining die.
After eight rounds, you score points for your progress in engineering, assembly, testing, and more. Whoever has the most points wins.
The five actions allow you to fill an available space in one department on your sheet:
- The Speedometer action is the simplest. It’s a single track with no bonuses, but it will reward you with an increasing number of points each round.
- The Sales department is where you earn money. Various actions require you to spend money, and if you choose to focus on it, it can be a source of big points.
- The Testing department lets you race your car around 3 tracks filled with bonuses. However, to start on a track you have to pay for a car.
- The Engineering department lets your advance up 5 tracks filled with bonuses (of a different flavor than the testing tracks). To start on a track, you must collect an engineer bonus from one of the other departments. The end of each track includes a mega-bonus or end-game scoring opportunity, but its requirements must be unlocked before it’s active.
- The Production department has a single grid-like track that allows you to advance in several directions as needed. It has several hubs that give a lot of points, but have requirements that must be found in other departments.
- UPGRADING an action allows you to spend money to permanently double or triple the amount of fills provided by it. This applies to all ways that action is gained: Whether through selected actions in steps 2 and 3, or any bonuses.
- RESEARCHING allows you to advance on the Research track. Every third advancement gives you a free action or a one-time bonus of your choice.
Motor City has a fully developed solo mode sure to satisfy solo gamers of all types. In the solo mode, you try to top your own score against an auditor that drafts dice and blocks areas of your sheet. Its difficulty can easily be adjusted by changing the colors of dice during setup, with no added rules.
Kickstarter Bonus: The Certificates Expansion
The Certificates Expansion is Kickstarter Bonus content for all of our backers!
The KS Bonus mini-expansion – The Certificates Expansion  – is FREE to KS backers and will not be included with retail copies of the game,  but may be available directly from Motor City Gameworks and its partners in the future.